The present invention relates to the field of wind energy, and provides a turbine which efficiently converts wind energy into mechanical power. The turbine can also be driven by fluids other than wind.
The invention is an improvement to a Tesla turbine. Tesla turbines were first patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,061,142 and 1,061,206, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. In brief, a Tesla turbine includes a plurality of spaced-apart disks, where a fluid flows in the spaces between the disks, in a generally spiral path.
An improvement to the Tesla turbine was disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0053909, the disclosure of which is also incorporated by reference. The cited publication discloses a modified Tesla turbine in which the disks are separated by airfoil-shaped members disposed between the disks. The turbine in the cited publication is intended for use in a turbine engine, such as in an aircraft.
The present invention provides a further improvement over the basic concept of a Tesla turbine. The turbine of the present invention is particularly useful as a wind turbine or the like, and provides maximum efficiency in converting wind energy to mechanical power. It can also be used in geothermal applications, in which a refrigerant fluid, flowing in a closed loop, is used to drive the turbine.